The 1948 World Chess Championship was a quintuple round-robin tournament played to determine the new

World Chess Champion The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013. The first event recognized as a world championship was the 1886 matc ...

following the death of the previous champion

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns. By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...

in 1946. The tournament marked the passing of control of the championship title to FIDE, the International Chess Federation which had been formed in 1924. Mikhail Botvinnik won the five-player championship tournament, beginning the era of

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

domination of international chess that would last over twenty years without interruption.

Interregnum

Previously, a new World Champion had won the title by defeating the former champion in a match. Alekhine's death created an ''interregnum'' (gap between reigns) that made the normal procedure impossible. The situation was very confusing, with many respected players and commentators offering different solutions. FIDE found it very difficult to organise the early discussions on how to resolve the ''interregnum'' due to problems with money, communication and travel (for example,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

prevented many countries from sending representatives – most notably the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

). The shortage of clear information resulted in otherwise responsible magazines publishing rumors and speculation, which only made the situation more baffling. See

interregnum of World Chess Champions The Interregnum of World Chess Champions was the period between March 24, 1946 (the date of Alexander Alekhine's death) and May 17, 1948 (when Mikhail Botvinnik won World Chess Championship 1948, a special championship tournament). History When Ale ...

for more details. The eventual solution was very similar to FIDE's initial proposal and to a proposal put forward by the Soviet Union. The 1938 AVRO tournament was used as the basis for the 1948 Championship Tournament. The AVRO tournament had brought together the eight players who were, by general acclamation, the best players in the world at the time. Two of the participants at AVRO – Alekhine and former world champion

José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Capabl ...

– had died; but FIDE decided that the other six participants at AVRO would play a quadruple

round robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Me ...

. These players were:

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...

(from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

); Mikhail Botvinnik,

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

and

Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournam ...

(from the

); and

Reuben Fine Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...

and

Samuel Reshevsky Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-196 ...

(from the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

). The proposal was modified slightly, in that the Soviet Union was allowed to replace Flohr with

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( rus, Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в, Vasíliy Vasíl'yevich Smyslóv; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 t ...

, a young player who had emerged during the

years and was obviously stronger. Reuben Fine elected not to play, for reasons which are not totally clear (see Reuben Fine#1948 World Championship). There was a proposal that he should be replaced with

Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was ...

, but in the end the tournament was played with only five players, and as a five-cycle round robin.

Championship

Before the tournament, Botvinnik was considered the favourite because of his victory at Groningen 1946 and his pre-war results. Keres and Reshevsky were veterans of international competition. Although Euwe was the former world champion, he had played poorly since Groningen. Smyslov was not well known in the West, as he had only appeared in two international competitions: a third-place finish at Groningen and shared second at Warsaw 1947. The Soviets brought a large contingent of about twenty-one including the players Botvinnik, Keres, and Smyslov; their seconds

Viacheslav Ragozin Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin (russian: Вячесла́в Васи́льевич Раго́зин; 8 October 1908 – 11 March 1962) was a Soviet chess player, writer and editor. He was world champion in correspondence chess and held the title ...

Alexander Tolush Alexander Kazimirovich Tolush (1 May 1910 – 3 March 1969) was a Soviet chess grandmaster. He was one of Boris Spassky's mentors. Tolush was born and died in Saint Petersburg (in 1969 called Leningrad). He earned the title of International Mast ...

, and

Vladimir Alatortsev Vladimir Alexeyevich Alatortsev (russian: Влади́мир Алексе́евич Ала́торцев, pronounced "a LAH tart sev"; 14 May 1909 – 13 January 1987) was a Soviet chess player, author, and administrator. During his career ...

respectively; correspondents

Igor Bondarevsky Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky (russian: Игорь Захарович Бондаревский; May 12, 1913 – June 14, 1979) was a Soviet Russian chess player, trainer, and chess author. He held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board ...

, and

Andor Lilienthal Andor (André, Andre, Andrei) Arnoldovich Lilienthal Reuben Fine, ''The World's Great Chess Games'', Dover Publications, 1983, p. 216. . (5 May 1911 – 8 May 2010) was a Hungarian and Soviet chess player. In his long career, he played against te ...

; member of the adjudication committee

Alexander Kotov Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Ко́тов; – 8 January 1981) was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet chess champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific write ...

; leader of the group Postnikov; a private doctor from Moscow; and Botvinnik's wife and young daughter. The U.S. delegation numbered one person—Reshevsky traveled alone and

Lodewijk Prins Lodewijk Prins (27 January 1913, Amsterdam – 11 November 1999) was a Dutch chess player and referee of chess competitions. Prins was awarded the International Master title in 1950, and was made an International Arbiter in 1960. In 1982 FI ...

was obtained at the last moment to be his second. Theo van Scheltinga served as Euwe's second. The tournament was played partly in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

(from March 2–25), and partly in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

(from April 11 to May 17). ChessWC1948-4.jpg, All five players: Euwe, Smyslov, Keres, Botvinnik, and Reshevsky ChessWC1948-1.jpg, Soviet delegation ChessWC1948-2.jpg, Botvinnik & Soviet ambassador Valkov ChessWC1948-3.jpg, Keres & Smyslov at the Kurhaus Hotel ChessWC1948-5.jpg, Keres vs. Euwe ChessWC1948-6.jpg, Smyslov vs. Reshevsky Mikhail_Botvinnik_1962

Botvinnik became the sixth World Chess Champion by winning the tournament convincingly with 14 points out of 20. He also had a plus score against all the other players. Smyslov came second with 11 points, just ahead of Keres and Reshevsky on 10½. Former champion Euwe was in bad form, and finished last with 4 out of 20.

Scores

Controversy

Since Keres lost his first four games against Botvinnik in the 1948 World Championship Tournament, and then won the fifth game only when Botvinnik was already settled as the winner of the tournament, suspicions are sometimes raised that Keres was forced to "throw" games to allow Botvinnik to win the Championship. Chess historian Taylor Kingston investigated all the available evidence and arguments, and concluded that: Soviet chess officials gave Keres strong hints that he should not hinder Botvinnik's attempt to win the World Championship; Botvinnik only discovered this about halfway through the tournament and protested so strongly that he angered Soviet officials; Keres probably did not deliberately lose games to Botvinnik or anyone else in the tournament. Kingston published a further article, after the publication of further evidence, which he summarizes in his third article. In a subsequent two-part interview with Kingston, Soviet grandmaster and official

Yuri Averbakh Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first centenari ...

said that: Stalin would not have given orders that Keres should lose to Botvinnik; Smyslov would probably have been the candidate most preferred by officials (he was a Russian Gentile while Botvinnik was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, at a time of rising antisemitism among the Soviet elite); Keres was under severe psychological stress as a result of the multiple invasions of his home country,

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, and of his subsequent treatment by Soviet officials up to late 1946; and Keres was less tough mentally than his rivals. Keres told Bent Larsen in private that the rumours were false and he lost fair and square to Botvinnik (J.Aagaard).

Notes

References

* * **reprint of '' Chess Review'' articles from April to August 1948 {{World Chess Championships, state=expanded 1948 1948 in chess 1948 in Dutch sport 1948 in Soviet sport 1948 in Russia Chess in the Netherlands Chess in Russia Chess in the Soviet Union Sports competitions in Moscow Sports competitions in The Hague